# Shopping in parties of six adults is not cool **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248 "2013-09-07T13:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/21 "2013-09-08T22:02:10Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > True story: one day, when I was supervising the self-checkout registers, a group of no less than eleven people went to a register, where a roughly twelve-year-old girl scanned a pack of maxi pads. That was the only thing they bought. > > Creepy family tradition? Here in Oklahoma the family tradition is to all the in/outlaws go to the pharmacy and all buy their [del]meth[/del] cold medicine one after the other. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/22 "2013-09-08T22:38:10Z")
My problem with the large shopping groups is that it doesn’t ever seem to occur to them to not string themselves out across the entire width of the mall concourse. And _I’d_ be the bad guy if I just shoved some of them out of the way so I can get by their slowly strolling selves! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/23 "2013-09-09T01:04:14Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Kill four of them. Problem solved. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/24 "2013-09-09T01:25:05Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Ok, but you should probably skip the sales on ‘ground chuck’. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/25 "2013-09-09T02:15:54Z")
> [@Jake\_Jones](#): > > Assholes. I swear to god, it was like being run over by a bus, three times. Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/26 "2013-09-09T03:03:23Z")
Wassa matter, ain’t you never seen six people in love before?! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/27 "2013-09-09T04:59:41Z")
> [@missred](#): > > ☹ Sorry. We’ll stay out of your store next time. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/28 "2013-09-09T08:33:45Z")
6 adults? That’s perfect for an adult shopping trip. It’s simple. One grabs vodka. The second gets whiskey. The third gets gin. The fourth gets rum. The fifth gets tequila (a fifth of it). The sixth gets brandy. Hmm… a little flaw. What if you want bourbon AND scotch. And who will get the Cheetos? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/29 "2013-09-09T08:39:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Nitpick: It’s _aisles_ not _isles_. Ordinarily I might not feel compelled to point out that you were ninja’d on this, but post #4 was very well done and deserves recognition. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/30 "2013-09-09T14:29:00Z")
It’s a social thing, a family outing. That’s not to say it doesn’t drive me crazy, too. The entire household empties out for their once a month shopping trip. NO. The rest of us have stuff to do! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/31 "2013-09-09T14:39:02Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Wise Advice To All: Never, ever, ever get behind an adult woman (30+, usually) and her elderly mother. They will BOTH take forever to make separate purchases. The mother will be the kind who is perpetually surprised she has to pay and doesn’t even start fumbling for her checkbook until the total is announced. They will have 2X as many coupons as they do items, which will have to be sorted out and argued over. They will argue over who was going to pay for the six-pack of Comet. And they will both treat the time as the social highlight of their day, which, sadly, it may be. I was once behind an elderly woman who, after her groceries were packed, took the cash register receipt and checked that each of her 93 items had been packed into the bags. Without moving from the checkout lane until I said “Could you please move it?” ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/32 "2013-09-09T14:50:06Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My problem with the large shopping groups is that it doesn’t ever seem to occur to them to not string themselves out across the entire width of the mall concourse. And _I’d_ be the bad guy if I just shoved some of them out of the way so I can get by their slowly strolling selves! That’s so they can all be on camera at once like the “ **Sex and the City** ” girls they are certain they are. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/33 "2013-09-09T15:33:43Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > That’s so they can all be on camera at once like the “ **Sex and the City** ” girls they are certain they are. Or… what was that stupid series about a bunch of cowboys teleported to the future, in which the big moment each show was when they did the gunslinger step-out in a line? So beware if they’re wearing Stetsons. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248/34 "2013-09-09T18:40:31Z")
They’re like cattle. This weekend I spent some time at an outlet mall that was having sales, and there were herds of human cattle all over the landscape. Family pods of 4-8 [del]great lumbering behemoths[/del]people. Moseying over the sidewalks and through the aisles and doorways at less than 1 mph, taking up the entire traffic area with their mob, oblivious to all around them. Made me wish there were little herd dogs around, nipping at their ankles, keeping them in formation and out of my way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-in-parties-of-six-adults-is-not-cool/668248.md?page=1)